The Spirit
by RandomCookieChick
Summary: After destroying the Collector base, the team seeks refuge and refuelling on a once thought uninhabited planet, Zeria. However a new figure appears, will this planet be uninhabited for long? Contains Fem!Shep/Thane and an OC. Please review and rate!
1. An Unexpected Intruder

**Ok, to start off I just want to thank everyone who reviewed my stories! I'm so glad that within a few days I'm already getting all these awesome people sending me replies about my stories! Thank you all so much. A personal thank you to the reviewers :D**

**Thank you again! **

**Now, yes. The moment you've been waiting for. My ACTUAL story! Now yes I know that stories take time and patience and persistence, so I'm going to do about one chapter a week, possibly more if I have more time on my hands than usual. As this is the first time I'll start this story, I'm going to make it a long chapter, hopefully it'll keep you all indulged! Please read on and tell me what you think! If you are confused at all throughout this chapter, please message me or leave me a comment and I'll explain it in the next chapter or reply to your message ^_^**

"Normal Talk" "_Thoughts" __**"Change of scenes"**_

A chilled wind blew over Zeria, almost ripping the plants out of their roots. A pale hand caught a flower as it whistled through the breeze, sealing it in a cage of fingers. The flower was pale blue, speckled white. "_A rare flower indeed" _thought it's captor, as the flower struggled to be free and join its' brothers and sisters in the wind. "You are a caged bird, little one. And just like caged animals..." with that the figure released the prey, letting it whistle through the air.

"Caged animals must be released."

The pale hand dropped and legs moved swiftly, continuing on the path, swirling petals following silently.

**Aboard the Normandy...**

Aoife Shepard opened her eyes slowly, her eyes blurring to adjust to the dim light hovering above her bed. Feeling a pair of arms encircling her she turned on her side to face her drell assassin. Still asleep, both layers of Thane's eyelids were closed, his mouth holding a contented smile. Aoife wore an even more contented smile as she snuggled even closer to her lover.

The whole of the Normandy had agreed on a small trip of rest, after destroying the Collector base and nearly losing half the crew, Shepard had decided on setting the Normandy around an uninhabited planet, Zeria ,a once thought dead planet now found to be alive, only apparently hardboring no life except animals or creatures incapable of communication. Many had tried to settle on Zeria, however the reputation of the beasts kept them away. That's why Zeria was a perfect place to hide, almost untouched, as Shepard knew the Illusive Man was after them, not to mention the Reapers invasion which would be any month now.

So here she was, lying in pure bliss with Thane, nothing to kill, no missions, no pressure.

Absolutely nothing at all to drive them out of this heaven-

"Commander?"

Aoife groaned, raising her eyes to the heavens.

"Yes...EDI?"

"I have detected an energy signature on Zeria, it may be a patrol ship on the planet side, however considering the fact that we have heard nothing from The Illusive Man after you destroyed the Collector Base..."

"_Great" _Aoife thought." _JUST when I thought this day couldn't get any better... "_

"Alright EDI, I'll get a team down to have a quick look round" Shepard sighed. She HAD been meaning to take a look round the planet, but not this soon..

"Logging you out Commander"

With a small huff, Aoife turned back to find a pair of eyes blinking back at her.

"Good morning _Siha. _I trust you slept well?"

She smiled; leave it to Thane to cheer her up. "Yeah I'm ok" she snuggled into his chest, nuzzling her head into his neck as he ran his fingers through her fiery hair.

"Just been told about an 'energy signature' on Zeria. Apparently it might be nothing but you never know" she murmured, tracing circles onto his arm.

"Indeed. May I accompany you?" Thane replied. Ever since they'd become lovers Thane had become fiercely protective of Shepard. Yes, she was a spectre, The Saviour of the Citadel but he loved her dearly, and if she went into any battle he'd be hot on her heels.

She chuckled. "Of course, I'll grab Garrus too. Hopefully he won't be too annoyed I've steered him from his newly found love of peanut-butter and jelly sandwiches that Gardner made for turians, though how he can eat those things with his canine teeth I will never know"

A smile took over Thane's face. "I see Gardner's cooking has overstepped my expectations. I knew he had Grunt hooked, but Vakarian..." he chuckled. "Wonders may never cease"

"Let's hope so, I still haven't driven the Mako without crashing yet" Aoife teased as she reluctantly pulled away and hopped out of bed. "Alright, I'll go have a shower then grab Garrus, I'll meet you in the Hangar"

"Very well _Siha_"

And with that they went their separate ways. They may have been lovers earlier, but now they had a mission they were commander and teammate. They had both agreed that being together shouldn't get in the way of their missions.

Stepping into the Hangar Shepard found Thane and Garrus waiting for her.

"Damnit Shepard, I was just about to have a sandwich" Garrus grumbled. Shepard grinned.

"You have to be strong, don't give in to the addiction!" she teased as they got into the shuttle.

The ride had been bumpy, the atmosphere around Zeria was heavy, and many times Shepard had found herself grabbing onto the seats to stop herself from falling out.

As the shuttle touched down on the barren ground, Shepard was the first to drop out, drawing her gun in case of any trouble, Thane and Garrus quickly following suit. A cold wind whistled through them, squeezing through the tiniest cracks between the armoured plates of their armour to attack the flesh within. They all shivered involuntarily, Shepard's nose taking on a pale red colour.

"Something's not right here..." Shepard murmured, as the three gazed round the clearing of trees and plants. "No thermal heating?" Garrus joked, his mandibles flaring. Shepard withheld a grin. "No, do you two hear that?" They paused, blocking the sound of the wind out of their hearing. "I hear nothing _Siha_" Thane responded after a minute, Garrus nodding in agreement. "Exactly" Shepard whispered. "There's supposed to be wild, dangerous animals here. Where've they all gone?" Garrus frowned. "True, we'd better be careful" he muttered. Shepard nodded.

"Alright, let's move, quietly now. The scanner indicates the energy signature's not far from here, so let's go" she replied and the three set off, staying about a yard's distance within each other.

The eerie sound of silence followed the three explorers as they moved through the undergrowth, not a bird's call; animals' noise could be heard. Even the foul wind had stopped its' mournful tune.

A twig snapped.

Shepard's head whipped round and she held up her hand quickly, indicating to stop. They ground to a halt, guns drawn and gazing round silently in the cage of trees that surrounded them.

A silent figure approached the three out of the shadows, a knife carved from the bone of an animal held gently in hand.

Immediately they had their guns trained on their intruder, caution evident in their stances. Shepard took a look at the newcomer. It was clearly female, whatever it was, as the small chest protruding from the silken white robe was a dead giveaway. Although, scratch that, the whole thing was white. Even the hood it wore to cover its face was a white, with accurately detailed silver designs scrolling around the brim.

It finally stopped, a few yards away from their position, and quietly regarded them for a long few minutes. It was Shepard that broke the tension. "Who and what are you?" she asked, an underlying threat clear in her voice. To her it was a slightly different version of Kasumi, the hood was the same style, although it hid more of the face, except for a pale pair of lips. For a moment Shepard considered it being human, until she saw the hands. Only one thumb, the rest was the hand. No fingers, whatsoever. If Shepard had the patience (or the mind) to glue all her fingers except from her thumb together, she would've created the hand that this being wore. "I'll ask one more time, if you can understand us, we mean no threat. What are you?" she asked quietly, speaking slowly. This time, the being shifted and Shepard saw Garrus' claws tighten round his gun.

"What I...am?" it spoke for the first time. Now Shepard knew it was definitely a female. "Yes, what is your race?" she spoke, eyes looking rapidly for any change of body movement. The woman finally chuckled and pulled back the hood.

"What I am, is what you are, although what you are, is what I would be" It said.

Shepard was about to retort before she felt something sticking into her arm.

A dart.

The world tilted violently, hearing Thane and Garrus' grunts as they too fell victim. The last thing she saw was the woman's face, a blank canvas, then a blur...

Then darkness.

**Haha! There you have it, the first chapter of my story. Please send me comments or messages, as these will help me fuel ideas for the next chapter! I already have the basic plan, but by taking your ideas I can shape it into a better version. **

**Thank you so much for reading this chapter, and I hope you will enjoy it!**


	2. Carita

**Here's the second chapter! Thanks to all that had reviewed or mailed me!**

**I hope you guys enjoy!**

**Onto the story!**

Darkness.

Aoife felt numb, blind...

Deaf.

All she could see was black, feel black..hear...nothing.

Then...a tugging.

A tug on her chest, only slightly, but she felt it, closer...and closer.

And suddenly she was awake and gasping for air, her lungs on fire as her hair clung to the back of her neck. A gentle hand held up her neck whilst she gulped in oxygen, supporting her. After she'd gained control of her breathing, she weakly turned to look at the figure, knowing it was Thane, and this was all a bad dream.

It wasn't.

Pale white hair drooped down over the creamy shoulders and onto the back, the bangs hanging in front of the face. Pale lips were drawn in a small line, whilst electric blue eyes stared at her.

It was the woman.

Panicking, she struggled away, landing back on the bed of soft leaves with a thud, the woman not moving to help. She quickly scanned her current residence. A dim-lit cave, the opening covered by strings of blue-green vines. Sitting up she stared with wide eyes at the creature before her.

"Are you hurt? I can give you another dose of medicine for your pain."

There it was again, that woman's voice. It was like silk, pure and pristine.

She suddenly found her voice, rough and scratchy. Coughing, she cleared her throat.

"What did you do to me?" She hated this, REALLY hated this. She was so weak, it wasn't horrible, it was terrifying, being this weak.

The woman smiled and moved forward, more into the light. Shepard took in the sight.

A pair of white antennae protruded from her head, going over the back of her head and trailing down to her shoulders. Her skin was white, although on her right cheek there seemed to be a trail of light blue scales that ran over the edge and trailing down to the top of her neck. She had no eyebrows, and wore a robe made of light blue.

"You appeared to have a reaction to the dart I shot you with" she explained, as if it was the most natural thing in the universe.

"How...how did you shoot me?" Shepard questioned, forgetting her predicament. "My shields on my armour were at maximum, there's no way it would've punctured it with a single shot"

"True, I did not use a single shot for either of you" The woman retrieved two darts from her pocket and held them out for inspection. Shepard didn't take either, only stared. "One dart's tip is coated with a special solution found only in these forests" The creature explained. "Because this planet is so uncharted, the designers of armour and shields have not used these darts as a possible way of deactivating them" Shepard could only stare at this strange creature, wondering if she was some sort of hybrid.

"And the second dart's tip is sharpened to pierce easily through armour, all you need is a strong arm and-"

"I'm sorry" Aoife interrupted. "But you're talking as if you've not just shot me with a dart and taken me somewhere" Slowly but surely, her strength was coming back to her. The woman smiled and sat down on a small rock. "I apologise. It's been a few years since I've come into contact with people other than foolish mercenaries who insist on taking the land for themselves. I merely saw the guns and the armour and assumed the usual" she gestured with a small shrug. "But it seems you are here for other reasons?"

"I have..questions" Aoife replied shortly, suddenly realising she was dressed in a robe. The being nodded at her to continue.

"Where is my armour?" she demanded, scanning the cave once again. "I apologise, the reaction you had when the dart's solution entered your bloodstream involved your skin burning up and taking a large rash over this area" The woman held up a hand and gently indicated around the neck and arm. "To be able to treat it I had to remove your armour. But your armour is outside, I repaired a small dent in the back of your armour, it may be minimal now but a critical hit could penetrate right through it."

"I see." Shepard murmured. "What and who are you?" she questioned, feeling more certain that this being wasn't about to kill her.

"My name is Carita, and as for my race, I am a Spirit" she replied, a small smile turning up her lips.

"Spirit?" Shepard questioned. "I've..never heard of that race"

"You shouldn't have, I am the last of my race and even when our race thrived we tended to keep to ourselves"

"But..shouldn't other races hear of you?, Why don't they document it or something?"

"Because they never knew about us . We were an ancient race, around Prothean times" at this Shepard raised a brow. "We hid on an uncharted planet, much like this one. We called that planet Anaris. We never communicated with other races, and when we had to, we put on the disguise of another being. We were very secretive creatures"

Shepard frowned. "You keep saying "we were", as if you don't exist anymore, why are you the last of your kind?"

At this Carita's whole body seemed to slump. "There...there was a war" she stammered, strangely worried. "A war which should never have taken place, that's the downside to living as one race, with no one else to support you..." At this she drew a piece of tattered parchment from her pocket. "My people suffered, all because of my father's unjust actions. My people were slaughtered like...what's your human expression? Most of the mercs ran away screaming so many different things I forget. Ah, Slaughtered like pigs." Shepard stood up cautiously, holding a hand against the wall to steady herself. "When you say..."My people", what's that implying?"

Carita drew a sad, solemn smile.

"I was the sole heir to our bloody throne. And my father was a war veteran. He believed we should go against our beliefs and rules and destroy other races, which would be the lowest of the low in our eyes. My mother and I believed that we should indeed go and visit other races, but learn from them, share our knowledge and technology. Unfortunately, our laws laid by both my father and our traditions prohibited us from doing so"

Shepard raised both brows. "You were a princess?" at which Carita looked slightly confused.

"Princess?" She questioned. "Do you mean a Liopae? That's the term my people used to call me, being the heir to the throne"

"Uh, yeah, a Liopae" Shepard replied, slightly confused. "Wait. If your species is so old, how can my translator pick up what you're saying?"

Carita's lips turned up at the edges. "A translator? Oh, something that translates languages you mean?" Shepard nodded and Carita looked thoughtful. "Ah I see" she murmured. "That's what the traders said the other races were using when they went to other planets in disguise to buy resources. But we never knew what it was for" She smiled again. "But anyway, I'm not too sure"

Shepard frowned. "Are you sure absolutely no one whatsoever showed themselves to the outside of your world?" Carita nodded. "I think so, if they did then that might be a reason as to why it can pick it up, but if so, like you say, why do they not talk about us in your so-called documents?" Shepard shrugged, feeling a slight ache in her neck as she did so.

"So you said there was a war? Who was the war with?" Aoife questioned.

"I apologise, I think it would be best if we withdraw from this discussion. It's not the sort of the topic that I like explaining, it's a little sensitive for my taste" Carita replied and Shepard nodded. "I'm sorry to have brought up your past"

"It's not your fault; you weren't even born. Even if you were and somehow knew about us I doubt you'd have any control over what happens and what doesn't"

"I suppose..."

"Might I ask your name stranger?, as much as I enjoy company, I wouldn't mind knowing the name of the person I treated"

"My name's Shepard, Commander Shepard"

"I see, I've not heard that name from any of the mercs or travellers. What do you do?"

"I save the universe, at the moment I'm aiming for the 3rd time in a row"

Carita chuckled. "That must be a very interesting job"

"Yeah, I kill stuff. It's good."

"Indeed, now, shall we go and see your companions? They're outside by the fire, you must be hungry after sleeping for a sunrise and a half"

"I slept for nearly two days?" Aoife asked as they made their way to the entrance, Carita handing her a stick to push her weight onto. "Yes, it appears that humans aren't as tough as I thought they would be" Carita answered, pushing back the vines to reveal the glade.

From the cave led a flight of stone steps, vines and fungi wrapping their fingers round them. A small circle of neatly cut vegetation had been created, a fire with seats of leaves similar to her makeshift bed inhabited the middle of that circle, at which a recognizable drell and turian were eating what looked like food.

"Hey guys!" Aoife called down. The two looked up. "_Siha_!" Thane stood up and ran up to meet her, Carita stepping aside and making her way down to give them space. "Are you well?" "Yes, I'm fine" she reassured him. He stroked her cheek with a thumb, before kissing her head. "Thank Arashu you are safe" he murmured. Aoife gave him a heart-warming smile before taking his hand and stepping carefully downstairs, Thane's other hand on the small of her back supporting her.

"Glad to see you're awake Shepard, didn't really want to carry you back, you snore like Grunt when he's laughing" Garrus flared his mandibles in a grin as Shepard chuckled, sitting down on a seat of leaves with Thane next to her. Quickly noting that Carita was probably out of hearing distance, Garrus leaned over. "I don't think we can trust that thing Shepard, whatever it is. It's probably some sort of hanar asari hybrid from the looks of things" "Agreed _Siha_" Thane mused. "It is not safe to be in the company of a stranger that subdued us with two single blows"

Aoife frowned. "She's fine, if she wanted to kill us she would've done it before, why go to the trouble of dragging us back her and treating my reaction to the drug she put in the dart?" Garrus frowned. "True, Thane and I both woke up around the same time. She came and told us you were being treated for a reaction you had from the dart."

"She then came and suggested we eat, so she led us outside to here, where we've been waiting"

Shepard nodded, glancing behind her at Carita, who appeared to be using a knife made of what looked like a tooth to cut some strange looking plants. "She didn't say what she was or her name?" she questioned and Garrus tilted his head slightly, a habit he'd gotten from Kelly. "No, why? She told you?" he asked and Shepard nodded.

Shepard then explained what Carita had told her, none of them noticing Carita gazing over at them with a blank look on her face. None of them that is, except Thane.

"Please excuse me" he said, standing up and making his way over to where Carita had turned back and had continued slicing.

"One question, why?" he asked, standing behind her.

Carita turned round, holding a chopped plant in a bowl with what looked like meat. "Why I didn't kill you? Why I shot you?, I'm sure Shepard's explained it to you already" she replied, passing the bowl to him.

Taking it politely he raised a brow. "I meant as to why you're not telling us to leave, like the mercenaries" he replied. Carita took two more bowls into her hands and glided gently past him. "I know you're not here to destroy this planet, which is my goal to preserve. I'll accept people that merely want to have a look around, which is what I presume you three are doing?" she questioned, handing a bowl each to Garrus and Aoife, both of whom took the bowl gratefully, staring inside. "Well..." Shepard began, staring at her strange meal. "At the moment we're in hiding, and an energy signature came up on our radar on this planet. We weren't sure if it was the person we're hiding from, so we came down to check it out"

"I see" Carita murmured, apparently unknowing to Garrus and Thane's stares. "Do you have any idea what it is?" she asked, taking another tooth-knife (which didn't look like the type for cutting food, more like cutting people) out of a pocket in her robes and a small piece of sharp rock, making hard strokes against the tooth as she sharpened it.

Carefully, Shepard bit into the meat. The juices swelled inside her mouth, destroying any other taste on her tongue. The meat itself was tender and chewy, cooked exactly right. She swallowed, enjoying the taste. Thane and Garrus followed suit and surprised expressions overtook their faces.

"No, we were hoping it was nothing, but then, you went and shot us" Garrus replied briskly, tearing into his meat greedily. Carita's expression went blank as she replied calmly. "I've already told you why I shot you, and after apologising and treating Shepard's reactions and giving you food I can't think of any other way to repay the offence"

Shepard, seeing the way this was going, interrupted.

"Well, we'd better go. Need to notify my ship that we're alright. Knowing them they've probably already sent out a search team." She said, standing up. Carita nodded, a smile evident in her eyes, however her face remained blank.

"Very well. It was a pleasure to meet you Commander Shepard, you will find all your armour as you head out. Feel free to leave when you wish." And with that Carita stood up, putting the knife and the rock back in a pocket. She gave a small incline of the head before walking off back to the cave where Shepard had woken up.

Shepard watched her with a worried expression, feeling Garrus tap her on the shoulder. "Let's go, we've wasted enough time as it is". She nodded and the three set off, finding their armour and weapons on a flat smooth rock, perfectly intact.

Shepard activated her Omni-tool, bringing up a com. "Miranda?"

"Shepard? Shepard where the fuck have you been?"

Ah Miranda. Always one to swear in times of need.

"Sorry, we'll head back, we'll be there soon" Shepard promised, a slight grin coming over her face. "Damnit Shepard, I was literally about to press the button to send out Mordin Tali and Kasumi for a search team!"

"Yeah, I had a feeling that you'd do that" Shepard grinned fully, suddenly becoming serious. "Any updates on the energy signature?"

"Yeah, it's moving, and fast. It's headed to the opposite side of the planet. But you need to come back and fill us in on what the hell happened to you"

"Alright, Shepard out"

**DUN DUN DUNNN :D**

**Thanks so much to JenJo for the name "Carita" which is Swedish and means "dearness, esteem, love"**

**I hope you're enjoying my story! I'm going to be publishing the chapter every Tuesday, so stay tuned! Thanks again for reading! I appreciate it!**


	3. Hunted

**Hello all, thank you for reading and reviewing my stories! It means a huge deal to me, so thanks again :D**

**Now, since tomorrow (For me anyways) is the 1****st**** of December and coming up to Christmas I was thinking of doing a Christmas one-shot. I have lots of ideas, and I probably will be posting a Christmas one-shot, most likely next Tuesday (Which is the day the next chapter of "The Spirit" comes out) so think of it as a little bonus for following me this far! **

**Thanks again to the people who review and also those who read my stories, I appreciate it thoroughly and I hope that with all the comments and tips I can gather, I'll be able to write a great deal of stories (Which will hopefully indulge you fully) which I hope you will enjoy!**

**Now enough of me going on like a woman who's never spoken to anyone for 5 years, onto the main reason you're reading this, the story!**

**Enjoy~**

"Shepard this is really hard to believe" Miranda replied doubtfully, leaning against the rail in the debriefing room, where Aoife had been trying to convince Miranda of Carita and what she was.

"I know it's hard to believe" Shepard sighed, running a quick hand through her wavy tresses."But it's not like we intended on finding her"

Miranda frowned. "I'd like to know more about her Shepard, maybe she has something we can use, do you think you could take us to her? Or bring her abroad?"

This time it was Shepard's turn to frown and shake her head at Miranda's offer. "No, she clearly stated that her race isn't very social, they prefer solitude. And besides, even with our scanners we couldn't pick her up when we met her. It's making me believe she wanted to meet us, regardless of if we had guns or not"

Miranda sighed and stood up, planting both hands on the desk and staring at the holo of the ship. "So let me get this straight, a strange unheard of race named "Spirits" were wiped out during a war, the sole survivor being their heir to their throne, Carita, who now lives alone on Zeria, is that it?"

"Pretty much yes" Shepard replied, suddenly realizing that although she thought she'd become quite close with Carita, it seemed that Carita had a way of changing the conversation so that you'd never have any real information to use against her.

"But there are so many things to answer!" Miranda retorted, clearly showing that although she was trying to believe this is true, her mind wasn't fully set on the idea of a hidden race. "Who was the war with? How can we understand her? Why did she tell you all of that information, wasn't she scared that you might come back with people to find her? It doesn't make sense Shepard!"

"Believe me Miranda I want to know more too" Shepard replied, her hands clasped behind her back fidgeting tiredly. "But I think that may be the first and last time we see her"

Miranda sighed a final time, shrugging before adopting a more official pose. "Alright, back to what we were after, before all this 'Spirit' stuff started" she said, air quoting with a stressed look on her face.

Shepard nodded, hands unclasped and once more at her side. "What's the update on the energy signature?"

Miranda's face took on a grim look, eyebrows pierced together in a deep frown. "It's gone."

Shepard could hardly believe what she was hearing.

"Gone? It can't be gone, it was huge!"

"I know Shepard, but we've affirmed two definite things during your time on Zeria. One: The signature was most definitely Cerberus, and Two: They've either disguised themselves or they've set up a cloaking device"

Shepard raised a sceptical eyebrow. "Cloaking device? EDI can't see through them?"

"I may be able to bypass most cloaking devices and shields" EDI's voice pipped through. "However because I am a Cerberus installed AI, Cerberus have found ways of changing my systems so that I may or may not be able to detect a cloaking device made by them."

"I see." Shepard thought, considering whether to move to a different planet.

"So where do we go commander? Do we change our location? Or stay and try to find Cerberus?" Miranda asked, putting a hand on her hip.

"For the time being we'll stay, we're not in any danger as of yet and they might be just watching us. The last thing we need is to rush off and they start following us. That's probably what they think we'll do, so if they start to move we'll head off before they can track us" Aoife commanded, pushing a wavy lock of auburn hair out of her eyes.

Miranda gave a polite nod. "Very well Commander, is there anything else you want to go over?"

"No, you're dismissed"

And with that Miranda strode out, who knows as to where he location might be. Shepard followed suit, heading to her quarters for a little R&R before looking for the location of the beacon.

Wriggling out of her armour, she sighed contented as the oxygen in the cabin gleefully approached her new-found skin, ridding it of it's sweat. Aoife sat on her bed, rolling her neck as she heard the door to her quarters open.

Who should it be but her favourite assassin? Smiling she watched as he approached her, pulling her up to his chest and wrapping his arms round her in a contented hold.

"_Siha_" he greeted, obvious happiness in his deep voice.

"Hello" she replied back in the same tone, raising her head to give him a small peck on the lips.

"Are you faring well since our encounter with Carita?" Thane asked, stroking her silken apricot hair gently.

"I'm fine, I had a check with Chakwas after coming back. She said that Carita must've used a damn good medicine, otherwise I'd still have the rash from my reaction." Aoife said, suddenly taking on a serious look.

"_Siha, _is something wrong?"

"No no...I'm just thinking. All those questions to ask Carita and we never got to really know her" She shrugged slightly and glanced up at Thane.

"What would you do if you were the last of your kind?" she asked, curiosity obvious in her eyes.

Thane thought for a moment, before answering.

"I wouldn't dwell on the fact _Siha _, I would just live out my life to the full. It does surprise me that Carita has never stolen a ship or stowed away to view other planets, considering the amount of mercenaries or pirates that might've approached Zeria"

Nodding, Aoife chewed her lip, about to ask another question when EDI's voice echoed in the small confinements of the quarters.

"Commander, you have a transmission from the Illusive Man, how shall you proceed?"

Shepard thought, then, deciding that whatever he wanted must either be some snarky comment or he was convincing her to give herself up she wouldn't give in.

Pulling away from Thane with obvious reluctance, Aoife sighed.

"Alright EDI, I'll see what he wants, I'll be there in a minute"

"Logging you out Commander"

And with a cheerful blip, EDI was gone.

Aoife looked up at Thane with what could only be described as an annoyed look.

"Duty calls _Siha_?"

"Yep, I'll be right back after seeing whatever he wants" she smiled and pulled him close for a gentle kiss.

She never got tired of the feeling his lips made against hers, it was almost magnetic. They broke the kiss, Thane planting one last peck on Aoife's nose before smiling and sitting down on the sofa, waiting for her return.

Smiling, Aoife walked briskly to the elevator, wanting to get this damn meeting over with.

"...Well look who couldn't keep away, and here I was thinking how I wasn't needed" Aoife smirked, taking on a cocky stance. It wasn't her usual way of doing things, but the fact that **he **wanted to talk to **her ** after all that had gone on since the Collector Base's destruction it seemed to her that she'd gained the right to act so damn cocky.

Hiss.

That very familiar hand stubbed the cigarette in the tray, tapping it with his index finger as he replied.

"Shepard. I see you've not had any second thoughts?"

"Are you serious? You think I'm just gonna come crawling back to you after all that's gone on? No chance."

"I see, and-"

"Don't even try it" her tone was sinister now. "I've had just about enough of you so just say what you want to say and get lost"

"Very well. I've been tracking you Shepard, as you've no doubt recognized. And I'm very interested in that lone alien on Zeria"

Shepard bristled. "What do you want with Carita?" she glared, not liking where this is going.

"Ah Carita is it? I see you two have become quite close. I'll get to the point Shepard."

"Good, because I could just listen to you all day" she shot back, crossing her arms.

"Give me Carita and you will never get bothered by Cerberus again. I'll let you have the Normandy, everything you have now. We'll stop chasing you, you'll never even hear of us. Just give me her Shepard, and you can go free"

Shepard could hardly believe her ears.

"Are you serious? She is the last of her kind, and you'll probably want to experiment on her! I don't know what you want with her but neither will she go willingly nor will I even try to get her to cooperate"

The Illusive Man took a stubborn drag from the cigarette, smoke shooting out of his cracked, dry lips.

"Very well Shepard. I did warn you. But before I go, let me say this. You may not capture Carita, but that does not mean that Cerberus wont"

And suddenly the transmission ended, Aoife finding herself in darkness.

Scanning through her mind over what happened, she realised what the beacon on Zeria was for. It wasn't just for her, they were tracking Carita.

Sprinting up to the deck she hollered.

"EDI! Get Thane and Garrus ready for a shuttle launch, we're going down to Zeria ASAP"

"Confirmed Shepard, they have been informed."

As soon as the shuttle reached the ground Aoife was off and running to where Carita was residing, Garrus and Thane hot on her heels. It wasn't hard to find which way to go, as Shepard had unnecessarily made a mental note of landmarks as they journeyed back towards the shuttle last time.

Sprinting into the clearing Aoife shouted.

"Carita?, Carita are you here?"

Only the distant call of birds met her cries.

Then suddenly, she heard a shooting noise behind her, seeing a dart fly out of nowhere.

This time she was ready, she dodged, Thane and Garrus' guns trained on the spot the dart had hailed from.

Sure enough, the lone survivor came out of the shadows.

"Commander Shepard" she spoke, a slightly surprised sound in her voice. "I...did not expect you to be here again" she sounded unsure as to how to approach this direct meeting, and Shepard wasn't surprised, waving Garrus and Thane down.

"Listen, we're back because we found out something. The organization that's tracking us, Cerberus. They've somehow found out about you"

The ever silent Spirit raised a brow.

"I'm not surprised, I didn't kill every person who came to this planet Commander Shepard, obviously some sort of rumour will have been spread"

Shepard shook her head exasperated.

"You don't get it. They want to take you away, to experiment on you. They want to find out every single thing you know!"

Carita blinked, tilting her head.

"Experiment? I'm not sure I understand that word"

Garrus stepped forward, mandibles flaring.

"Goddamnit listen here, Cerberus want to take you away and do horrible things to you. We're offering you protection. Understand now?" he growled, Carita widening her eyes in understanding.

"Ah I see. Well then, they wont take me, so I'm not sure why you came back to tell me, I can handle myself perfectly well"

Garrus sighed in exasperation but Thane put a hand on his shoulder. "Relax Garrus, she's never been in contact with other species before, so she probably doesn't understand. We just need to get her aboard the Normandy"

Carita frowned, obviously overhearing.

"I apologise but I don't want to go to this 'Normandy', I'm perfectly fine thank you"

Shepard was about to retort when she heard a roar.

Not from an animal, but the sound of a shuttle coming into landing near them.

"**Shit" **Garrus swore. "They're here already"

Carita looked towards the sound, drawing that bone knife from her pocket. "It seems another group of mercenaries have landed, please wait whilst I deal with them" she asked, about to walk off when Shepard grabbed her arm.

"Listen Carita, these guys are like nothing you've ever seen. They are **powerful**. I will explain everything on our ship, just trust me and come with us" she shouted, hearing the shouts of Cerberus soldiers as they approached the clearing.

Carita stared at her for a moment, before nodding.

"Fine, I will go with you, go on ahead, I need to fetch some things from the cave" and without a word she glided up the steps and into the cave again.

Shepard was about to protest when Thane's voice broke her thoughts.

"I smell burning" he murmured.

Aoife looked round.

They were burning the forest.

Smoke rushed towards them engulfing the camp, smothering the plants and tightening its grip on the flowers need for carbon dioxide.

Shepard coughed, looking round wildly for Thane and Garrus.

"Thane? Garrus?" she shouted, hearing the roar of the machines getting closer.

"We're here Shepard!" she heard Garrus shout.

"Get back to the shuttle!, I'll grab Carita and meet you back there! Go, Go!" she called back and heard two pairs of footsteps fastly recede from her position.

In the cloud of the smoke she could make out the steps to the cave. Sprinting up them she ran into the cave, calling for the Spirit.

"Commander Shepard I'm here!" she heard a weak voice in the corner of the cave.

Seeing a pale figure amongst the smoke slumped against the rock Shepard kneeled down to tend to Carita.

"This smoke, my body's so weak" she whispered, trying to rise but failing and slumping against the wall.

"Can you walk at all?" Shepard asked, her mind counting the painful seconds that secured the line between them escaping or failing.

Carita shook her head. "No, I can barely move at all" she replied, coughing harshly.

Hoisting Carita up onto her back Shepard noticed how light Carita seemed to be.

"Wrap your hands round my neck and hold tight!" she shouted and Carita obeyed, coughing again.

Shepard set off.

The smoke was an easy way to escape, running down the steps she tore off into the forest, keeping her breathing in a set motion.

Once or twice Carita almost lost her grip on the commander, but always seemed to fight for her strength and pull herself back up as Aoife sprinted through the trees.

Seeing the clearing where the shuttle had landed up ahead, Shepard increased her speed, hearing Cerberus right on her tails and feeling bullets shoot blindly past her. She saw Thane and Garrus already in the shuttle, its engine revving as they returned fire, covering the two as they approached the shuttle.

Shepard handed Carita to Thane, who took her gently and placed her down on the seat. Garrus pulled Shepard up and then they were off, the shuttle rocketing off into the sky.

Sitting down next to Carita's slumped form against the side of the shuttle, Shepard breathed a sigh of relief as the shuttle breached the atmosphere.

"Well..." Garrus huffed, sitting opposite the two women, Thane sitting next to him. "That was a close shave" Garrus sighed, flaring his mandibles. Shepard nodded, too exhausted from running that long to answer. She turned to look at Carita, slumped against the side of the shuttle. Although she looked unconscious, Shepard could hear a slight breathing, very faint, but it was still there.

"Lets get her to Chakwas as soon as we reach the Normandy" she breathed and both drell and turian nodded, all eyes fixed on the weary Spirit, the sole survivor who had been inches away from extinction.

**I hope you all enjoyed this chapter! Tune in next Tuesday for the next chapter and ALSO the Christmas one shot! Thank you again for reading my story and I hope the rest of your week goes smoothly!**


	4. Training

White.

Carita only saw white.

Opening her eyes, she felt weighed down, pushed.

Like something was holding her down.

The place stank, strange smells filled her nostrils as her vision spun, the effects of the smoke wearing off.

Wearily she raised her head, her head pounding as her arms and legs screamed at her to stop moving.

A pair of hands roughly pushed her back down whilst she struggled, a blurry female voice in the back of her head, calling out to her. It almost seemed friendly, but there was a tiny hint of annoyance in the sound.

Then suddenly a small twinge of pain in her arm as she felt drowsy once more.

Yet she continued to struggle, wondering what sort of hell Commander Shepard had brought her to.

She just...

Just wanted to _sleep, _to wake up and find this was all another paranoid dream.

Her body granted her wish and she soon slipped deeper into darkness, feeling the rough hands recede and fade away..

_Poke._

_Poke._

_Poke._

Carita's eyes cracked open hesitantly as she glared at the alien who refused to stop poking her antennae , seeming to think that they would explode any second.

"Do you mind?" she asked wearily, her voice cracking slightly. "_Must be the smoke"_ she thought.

"Apologies. Didn't think you would wake for quite some time. Nevertheless, species fascinating. Not one heart, two. Fascinating. Would like to study later on perhaps?"

The fact that this orange thing with horns in a white and red suit was talking to her like they were the best of friends not only confused her, but slightly annoyed her.

"I know I have two hearts, but would you mind leaving me alone? It is not like I am used to contact with other beings" she groaned, eyes re-adjusting to the light.

"Apologies, will inform Shepard you are awake"

Hearing footsteps recede, Carita breathed a sigh of relief and took in her surroundings.

She appeared to be on a soft structure, high off the ground. A wave of white material had washed over her, not only insulating but also giving her body a slight touch of comfort.

The walls were a pale green, reminding her of some of the plants back on Zeria.

Turning her head stiffly to the right she saw a grey structure that looked like a table with two chairs, with some strange floating orange square hovering on top of it.

Her vision now fully restored Carita tried to move. Unlike earlier, her legs and arms didn't feel heavy, they felt...lighter somehow. Lighter than they had ever been.

She pushed on each side of this soft structure, feeling her body rise as she swung her pale legs gently to the side, pushing back the white material.

Feeling a twinge of cold on the backs of her legs she pushed off from the structure and stood up, leaning against the cool metal for support.

"Carita"

Looking up she saw Commander Shepard walking in. Her eyes took on a cold tone.

"Commander Shepard" she began icily. "When I said I would come with you I didn't ask to be poked and prodded like a dead carcass!"

Shepard nodded sheepishly. "Yeah, sorry. Mordin can get a little too excited."

All anger gone, Carita inclined her head to the left. "Mordin?"

"The person you spoke to about poking you?"

"Ah, the orange thing. I did wonder what he was"

"He's a Salarian. If you want we can get him to teach you about the other races and such, you're probably curious as to what Thane, Garrus and I am right?"

The Spirit nodded, smoothing down her robes with a gentle hand.

"That would be most...kind yes. But, what am I to do now that you are keeping me from the hands of this 'Cerberus' of which you speak?" she asked, brushing a strand of snow hair from her eyes.

Shepard smiled. "Well you can do what you've always wanted to do, tour the galaxy" Stretching out a pale hand she continued. "Come on, let's show you round"

Carita took the offered hand hesitantly, feeling it against her own. It was...in one word...

Squishy.

Pale and pink, she could feel the bones underneath the skin of Commander Shepard's hand as she led Carita out of the room and into a bigger one, the ceiling growing higher and more people looking like Commander Shepard came into view.

To her credit, Aoife had probably never seen someone quite like Carita. Showing her round proved to be quite an experience, Carita often stopping to look at a wall or some storage compartment, leading Aoife to explain its use and so forth, until they'd continue and the ever curious Spirit would stop yet again.

Carita seemed to get on with most of the crew. First off Aoife thought she might as well properly introduce Thane and Garrus, in the hope that if they found Carita unthreatening, the rest of the crew may follow.

Aoife found that Carita tended to get along with people that didn't mind explaining things or who simply accepted her inquisitive nature. Thane was no exception.

"So, you're from...Kahje was it?" Carita asked, sitting across from the assassin, Aoife at her side.

"Yes, I am." Thane replied, both sets of eyelids blinking.

"Oh, what's it like?"

"Dry, very arid. I-" his eyes shut tightly, then suddenly springing open.

"Um, Thane?" Carita asked nervously, tilting her head.

"Sun beats down on my back. She places a hand on my forehead, cool and cold. "_Are you alright?_" she asks, I nod, my thoughts drifting to my son, my Irikah" He squeezed his eyes shut again before returning to normal.

"Thane are you alright?" Carita asked again, her eyes widened, probably wondering if she had done any harm to the overcome drell.

"He's fine Carita" Aoife said, reaching across the table to grasp one of Thane's hands in her own. "It's just solipsism"

"Solip...sism?" Carita asked, furrowing her brow.

"Forgive me, I did not mean to lose myself in my memories" Thane murmured, squeezing Aoife's hand in reply before letting go to look back at Carita.

"It's fine Thane, I think Carita's more interested in solipsism than interruption now" Aoife grinned, looking at the curious Spirit.

And so it continued. Samara and Carita had gotten along so well Samara had even offered Carita her room to share, which Carita gratefully accepted. Aoife suspected that it was all down to their regal nature that joined them together.

Carita had also enjoyed chatting with Mordin and Chakwas, both of whom were all too happy to explain other species and planets with her.

"She's like a child that's been locked in a cage" Chakwas had told Aoife one day. "A child that's had no teaching whatsoever" The doctor had smiled. "But I plan to change that"

The Spirit had also proven that she wasn't just a dead weight to carry round. She often helped out Mordin regularly, sharing technology from her race. It proved to be quite useful, Carita had barely been on board a week and they'd already developed immunities to many illnesses.

**/Carita's POV/**

The ship was...nice. Carita had to give it that much credit. After she'd joined she'd met some very interesting characters. Thane, Samara, Tali, Mordin, Chakwas, Legion and Kelly she mostly got along with, and they all seemed so contrasting.

Legion, for example. The geth's way of speaking apparently confused people such as Grunt, but Carita understood Legion perfectly well. It was like talking to one of her old courtiers. They all had an odd way of speaking, but once you got talking to them it somehow became easy to understand what they were saying.

Food wasn't a problem either. She didn't have to stock up food in case of food shortage or have to journey long distances to get an edible supplement if her local food supply had been destroyed by weather or animals. Apparently the food Gardner served was disgusting but Carita liked it. It wasn't a royal banquet but it definitely scored over raw food.

But what definitely won her over was the starboard observatory.

She had often gazed up at night when she was a child and wondered what else apart from her own kind lived in space, and now as an adult she got to experience it. Many times Samara had awoken from her meditations to find Carita sleeping pressed against the window.

Then came the training day.

**/ A week later , Normandy SR-2's position: On course towards Citadel /**

Commander Shepard had told Carita that they could bring her along and protect her, but in some cases Carita might find herself alone and in danger.

Aoife also presumed that Carita had no training in combat whatsoever.

Oh boy was she wrong.

Kenneth Donnelly found himself slammed to the floor for the umpteenth time that session, as Carita stood, _grinning_.

"Looks like Cari wins yet again!" Gabi laughed as she and the rest of the crew watched from the sidelines.

Aoife watched with a humorous glance as the poor engineer got beaten again and again. "Poor Kenneth" Gabi noted, walking next to the commander. "He claimed that he'd be able to easily take her down, but oh man, I never thought he'd get beaten this many times!" she giggled, watching 'Poor Kenneth' getting hoisted up by some crewmembers and out to the medical bay.

Shepard grinned as she looked over at Miranda.

"Hey Miranda, you wanna have a go?"

Lawson shrugged and walked onto the mat, Carita regarding her with a curious glance.

"How would you like to fight Miranda?" Carita questioned, fidgeting with her tooth knife in her pocket, Aoife had found Carita tended to fidget more around Miranda and Jacob more than anyone else. She stored that in her memory bank, remembering to ask Carita about it later.

"Biotics maybe?" Miranda suggested, that usual smirk apparent on her features. "I haven't seen you use biotics yet...your people _do _use them right?"

Carita nodded. "We call them a different name but yes we do. If that is what you wish, then biotics it is" she replied, the recognisable blue glow emitting from her body.

Miranda followed suit, throwing a biotic orb at Carita, who flipped out of the way.

Their biotics met, evenly pushing against each other, then pushing them away, both of them skidding backwards. Miranda then decided to up the game a little more and ran in for close combat, attempting a low-kick.

Carita flipped backwards with ease. "I thought you said Biotics Miranda?" she questioned. Miranda smirked.

"And here I thought you could handle this Carita. It looks like your people should've stayed on that ghost of a planet after all." She retorted, challenging her again with a kick, Carita blocking it again before kicking her back.

The Spirit's eyes narrowed. "My people aren't natural fighters, but that doesn't mean we can't fight at all!" she challenged, wrapping her biotics around Miranda and throwing her to the wall.

Aoife frowned. She knew Miranda was just trying to see how strong Carita was, but because Carita had almost no sociality for years and years, that meant she'd forgotten the meaning between teasing-

Cari punched Miranda and threw her up in the air, slamming her down with a high kick.

And the meaning between insults.

In a flash Aoife was behind Carita, restraining her arms and holding her back from any more attacking.

Miranda stared at Carita as she sat against the wall breathing heavily, eyes locked on Carita's now still form.

Aoife looked up at Gabi, who nodded and ran to get Dr Chakwas, the rest of the crew quickly went back to their duties, knowing that Shepard would speak to them later.

"Miranda...I'm sorry, I didn't mean.." Carita trailed off regretfully, slumping in Aoife's grip.

Aoife let go and tapped Carita on the back, turning her round.

"I think it's best if you go back to your quarters Carita, I'll talk to you later." Aoife instructed, Carita bidding a small nod, slipping silently out of the room.

Aoife turned to Miranda, worry evident on her face as she stared.

"Miranda it's not her fault-"

"She may be new to this but she can swing a bloody good kick."

To Aoife's surprise Miranda Lawson was grinning.

"She's got to learn a lot more Shepard. But I like her. She's got spirit and despite her calm demeanour it looks like she doesn't let people push her around and walk over her. She'll be useful. In more ways than one" she smiled, Aoife helping her up.

"Glad to see you're not harbouring any grudges" Aoife replied, Dr Chakwas appearing.

"Looks like our little Spirit's got more punch than we thought commander" Chakwas laughed, walking over to look at Miranda.

Aoife grinned. "I'll go see her later. I think she just needs a little quiet time at the moment" she commented.

Miranda nodded. "I'll go with you Commander. I get the feeling she's going to be more nervous than ever around me"

Aoife looked at her sceptically. "So you've seen it too?"

Miranda nodded, wincing as Chakwas applied a small dose of medi-gel on a small cut on her face.

"She's always nervous around me and Jacob. I don't know what it is..." she thought, standing up stiffly and nodding to Chakwas.

"Thanks doctor" she smiled and Chakwas laughed.

"No problem, just try not to get into too much of a catfight next time" she walked off with her kit, laughing yet again.

Aoife shook her head, then turning to Miranda. "I think there's something she's not telling us"

"Yeah, you're right. Something about us that she really doesn't like."

"I'll leave you to get cleared up, I'll go see Carita now"

"Righto Commander."


	5. The Citadel

**Hello everyone! Thank you for reading the story! :D**

**Now this sunday is yes, coming nearer to christmas but more importantly I'm off up to my relatives for christmas. **

**I WILL be taking my laptop, it's just that I'm just saying please don't expect me to get chapters out on time. I will try so hard to get them done before sunday so I can just log on and post them next tuesday, but with all the work and packing at the moment, it's quite stressful!**

**Thanks again! Please stay tuned!**

* * *

The Citadel was bustling as ever as the Normandy docked, gliding smoothly in before running to a gentle stop.

Carita peered out of the starboard observation window, looking round at the busy but pristine streets. She hadn't left the room since her outburst at Miranda and as much as she was eager to explore the Citadel, she wasn't too sure she wanted to face Miranda, or the rest of the crew, no matter how many times Samara had convinced her otherwise.

Aoife gently stepped into the room, nodding to Samara who'd watched concerned from the corner.

The Justicar smiled and walked out of the room to the mess hall.

Aoife leant against the wall opposite to Carita, knowing the Spirit had heard her enter the room. Sure enough, after a few minutes Carita spoke.

"Commander Shepard, I apologise for my behaviour, you must think very...harshly of me for inflicting harm on a crewmate" The Spirit murmured, too shamed to turn her head from the window.

Aoife knew Carita had more to say so she stayed silent, watching with a blank expression.

"It's just..." Carita sighed. "I always did have a temper as a youngling, and the fact that everyone is gone...that everyone is dead because of one man's actions..." she trembled in anger, before recomposing herself, Aoife could make out Carita murmuring to herself, something about edicate and manners...

"I have faced up to the simple fact that no amount of crying or screaming will bring anyone back, and I am certainly not going to break that fact now. But I refuse to have my people spoken ill of. They are dead, you gain nothing by dancing on their graves." Carita snapped, turning to face the silent Commander, now standing to walk across to the angered Spirit.

"Carita."

Carita looked up hesitantly.

"Commander Shepard I agree wholeheartedly if you want to hand me over to Cerberus then I understand completely and I think that it would be best if I-"

She was interrupted by Aoife slapping her across the face, then grabbing her by the shoulders.

"For gods sake Cari, it's ALRIGHT!" Aoife shouted, Carita frozen to the spot, her eyes wide.

Aoife sighed. "Miranda was a little shocked but she said that it was GOOD you hit her! That you know when to stop people walking over you and that you have something to fight for!"

She looked at the Spirit for a moment before drawing her into a hug.

"It's alright Cari" she repeated gently, feeling the Spirit tremble beneath her.

Carita let out a shaky breath, and stood back, smiling.

"T-thank you Commander Shepard-"

"How many times Cari?" Aoife grinned, seeing the confused expression on Carita's face.

"Just call me Shepard, you don't need to call me my full title" she chuckled and Carita nodded, smiling back.

"Thank you... Shepard. I'm sorry about bursting out"

"Hey it's no problem, everyone has their days. Now let's give you a tour of The Citadel then eh?" she asked and Carita smiled, nodding happily.

"I would very much like that Shepard. Thank you" she replied, the two women now walking out of the observatory, heading out of the ship. Miranda met them along and after a brief exchange in conversation; they solved the dispute and cleared any trace of hate that might've still hung about in the air.

* * *

Aoife took Carita on a tour of The Citadel, showing her every single thing it had to offer.

Carita took in her surroundings as she followed the Commander round.

Sunlight struck the beams of the buildings, clubs and walls, reflecting their architecture onto the polished floors that had been greased, and rubbed dirty by the presence of aliens' feet, dropped food or simply the odour of bodies as they pushed along each other along the busy streets, bridges and inside rooms. The bushes and plants smelled of life, bringing out a new scent to the areas they were inhabiting.

"Alright Cari" Aoife began as they stepped into a large shop, seeming very productive as numerous customers came and went. "I just need to get some things from that guy over there, stock up on some ammo" she continued, tilting her head in the direction of a turian behind a till, cleaning a gun. "Feel free to look round" she smiled and Carita nodded, face hidden by her hood.

Since she was a newly found species, the last thing they wanted to do was cause suspicion or conspiracies that she was some sort of hybrid created in a lab. And as such she had her hood, so from afar she looked like a pale human.

"Very well Commander" she smiled. "I'll take a look round" she replied, Aoife nodding as she walked off to the till, the turian looking quite surprised.

Carita gazed round at the shop, seeing it sold more than guns. A dazzling array of necklaces and jewellery inhabited a shelf, whilst a range of suspicious looking 'fossils' took a stance above. The Spirit was about to pick up a necklace to examine it when she felt a rough hand on her shoulder. She turned round cautiously, seeing a being with multiple eyes. Oh Shaklzar, what did Mordin say they were they called?

"Hey there gorgeous" it said, some friends behind it grinning like a madman. Carita tried to ignore it and turned away, but then she felt a hand on either side of her, twisting her round forcibly.

"I **said**, Hello gorgeous, aint your mom taught you to be respectful?" it growled.

Ah. That was it. Batarians.

"I'm apologise, I was also told by my mother to never talk to strangers" she murmured, not wanting to start a fight.

The Batarian raised a brow.

"Look at this, little human's got some backbone. Ironic when it's hiding under a hood" he chuckled, raising a hand to push back her hood when she grabbed his hand and glared at him, shadows highlighting her piercing electric blue eyes glaring at him from under the hood.

"I would thank you not to touch me" she retorted, throwing his hand away before turning to browse more goods.

"Wow! Commander Shepard!" She heard behind her.

"Of course I'll give you a discount! Heck I'd name this shop after you. But yknow, could I have a little...message?"

"Sure, anything for this great store."

"Oh god this is awesome, ok just speak into the terminal when you're ready."

"I'm Commander Shepard and this is my favourite store on The Citadel."

"Oh god thanks so much, feel free to come back soon!"

"I will, bye"

Aoife grinned, walking over to her.

"Gets them every time" she whispered to the Spirit, grinning like a madman.

Carita chuckled before turning round, expecting to find the Batarians. But to her surprise, there were none.

Aoife raised an eyebrow. "Something wrong?" she asked, furrowing her brow.

Carita turned back and shook her head. "No, it's nothing Shepard, shall we continue?" she smiled and the two walked out, three figures following silently.

* * *

"Anderson this is Carita" Aoife gestured to the nervous spirit, grinning at the Human representative.

"Pleased to meet you Carita, you're a bit shy for an adult aren't you?" Anderson joked, sticking out his arm.

Carita extended her arm, seeing the surprised expression on Anderson's face at her hand. She smiled.

"It's a pleasure to meet you too Anderson, but I think you mistake me for a human" Carita replied, pulling back her hood to reveal her face.

The Commander and the Spirit grinned at the expression on the Captains face.

"What...how..where!" he stammered, blinking rapidly, looking her over.

And so they spent the next half hour telling Anderson of Carita's background in his apartment, Anderson usually listening and blinking, Aoife sitting grinning and Carita explaining calmly.

Anderson took another big gulp of his glass, rubbing his neck as he took all this information in.

"You do realise that I'll have to tell the council this, if they found out I've been hiding things from them I'll be questioned, and I can only think how bad that might turn out" he sighed, looking up at the two.

Carita nodded, smiling.

"I have no objections whatsoever Captain. I won't mind if you go public with the information, just that you'd inform me if you decided to"

Anderson raised an eyebrow.

"Wait...how old are you exactly?"

"In three months I will be 125 years old. You must understand that we live a lot longer than humans, even asari usually. I'm nothing but a child in our terms, the average age to live up to is around two thousand years"

Aoife raised both eyebrows, Anderson gaping.

"I guess it's hard to control overpopulation then?" The captain asked.

"No, not really. A female Spirit can only have three children, due to the fact that our bodies aren't built to be able to carry more than four children at any given time"

"What happens if you get pregnant with quadruplets, or more than three children?" Aoife asked, thoughts of abortion in her head.

Carita shook her head. "I know what you are thinking Commander and the answer is no. It is extremely rare for a spirit to harbour more than three children, and if say, she had quadruplets, the strongest of the four would be taken out and implanted into another spirit. Then the baby would be born and returned to it biological mother. We believe that everyone was born for a reason, we would never kill a child, even if the mother may die from childbirth"

"Implanted?" Anderson asked, surprise evident on his face. "Your people have that technology. For a hidden race you seem to be very civilized"

The Spirit nodded, smiling. "Yes, we think the Protheans may have known of us, however they never came to conquer us. To this day I still have no clue as to why, but as you say, some things should be kept secret" She suddenly stiffened, looking out of the window.

Anderson and Shepard followed her gaze.

"Something wrong Cari?" Aoife asked, raising a brow.

"I...I will be right back. I've just remembered something" Carita excused hurriedly, putting up her hood before bowing her head slightly and rushing out of the room.

She knew it.

She **knew ** the Batarians hadn't stopped following. Things like them were stubborn, and wouldn't go away easily.

She ran outside onto a bridge, seeing the Commander and Captain conversing in his apartment balcony above her.

No, no. Too near, too near. Commander Shepard mustn't get involved in this dispute. She will sort it out. She looked round, seeing an uninhabited area with a fountain she ran, three shadows following behind her.

Skidding into the deserted area she faced the followers.

"Well well well..." the lead Batarian grinned, walking up to her with his two friends.

"Looks like the little human isn't a human after all" it threw at her, loading his gun.

"I never said I was a human, you only presumed that. But then, that would be compulsory for people like you wouldn't it?" Carita shot back. She knew her temper wouldn't get her anywhere, but these three were looking for a fight, she might as well make it a good fight by getting them riled up.

"You bitch. GET HER!" the Batarian leader roared and fired at her, his friends following suit.

Carita dodged the bullets, hiding behind a wall as she drew a gun from her robes. She thanked Shaklzar that she'd agreed for Jacob to upgrade her robes to provide her with shields and kinetic barriers.

Loading her gun she turned and fired multiple shots, hitting one of the Batarians in the side.

She was **scared **, scratch that she was terrified. Sure, training had been no big. But actually **killing ** someone. That she had never done. She'd injured mercs and drove them away, but never killed them.

The hit Batarian roared in anger, before collapsing on the ground in pain.

Snarling, the leader ran up whilst Carita was reloading her pistol hurriedly, dropping heat sinks on the floor.

He ran infront of her, grabbing her head and cracking it against the wall, exposing her hood.

Carita howled in anger, dropping her gun before kicking him away and getting up to run from behind the wall.

**Forgetting the ****other ****Batarian still very much alive and with a very good aim.**

She felt a burning pain in her side before she fell to the floor, squinting her eyes in pain.

Her vision hazed, seeing footsteps approach her.

A pair of hands yanked her head up and pushed back the hood, exposing her face.

"What the...are you...kill...someone finds out..." The speech was slurred as she tried to move away.

The pair of hands slammed her head down on the ground repeatedly, before kicking her so she lay on her side.

She felt numb.

Shutting her eyes now she felt only darkness. And so ended the race called Spirits, she never did live up to the name of a Liopae.

"Carita. Carita wake up."

Feeling someone shake her the Spirit weakly opened her eyes.

Green?...no wait...Thane.

"Carita can you hear me?"

She moved. Wait. No, she moved her head. At the moment she wasn't sure what was up or down, Thane's face spun as it grew darker again.

"No, no Carita stay with me."

"Thane!"

Shepard.

Oh heck. She'll be in such shit if she survives this...

"_Siha_!"

"My god what the hell happened to her!"

"Some Batarians attacked her it seems. She's bleeding from the back of the head"

"Shit"

_Bleep_

"Mordin get to our position right now, Carita's got a head injury!"

"_Roger Shepard. Will bring Chakwas for further support."_

_Bleep._

She felt another gentle pair of hands on the back of her neck, supporting her.

"Cari, stay awake. **Do you hear me Carita. You are going to stay awake**...Cari...no...awake! STAY...AWAKE!"

Blackness...

Consumed her.

* * *

**omg D: Nuuu Cari! ;_;**

**Thanks again for comments and tips!, Please stay tuned for the next installment and please R&R 3  
**


	6. Comatose Conversations

Shepard chewed her lip, staring at Carita's comatose body as it floated gently in a tank, similar to Grunt's.

The attack had left Carita's brain partially damaged, and despite Chakwas and Mordin's efforts, the Spirit had fallen into a deep coma, the chances of a possible recovery slim. "Carita may awaken" Mordin had offered as a comfort a few hours after the attack "But no telling what psychological state will be in. Can only wait"

Chakwas had seen Aoife's crushed expression and raised a brow.

"Commander we lose people all the time, I know she was one of us but we have to stay strong" she said, pouring a small glass of Serrice Ice Brandy. Shepard looked at the doctor, her brow still furrowed. "Doctor she is all alone, if she dies then her race is completely gone" she sighed "I can deal with people dying, but my crew dying? Not a chance. As Commander I keep everyone alive to the best of my ability, no matter what." Chakwas grinned and nodded, taking a generous sip.

Two weeks later, the situation still looked awkward. The Batarians had been found and interrogated, later imprisoned but it was clear as to what they've seen. They grinned at Shepard whilst being led away, one of them even shouted out to her. "When we're out of here Shepard we're telling the whole galaxy!" it roared with laughter before the doors had slammed shut on its life for a few years.

Anderson had promised Aoife that they'd be put away for a while. "Hopefully the conditions in there may lead them to forget, I don't think the galaxy is ready for an almost extinct race to be brought forward at this point" he explained, Aoife agreeing.

The attack had also brought some tension between the rest of the Normandy. Samara meditated even more than usual, if it was possible, apparently to calm the anger that bubbled inside her. She'd become almost like a sister to the Spirit, and seeing Carita in that state had disgusted her. Kelly had been slightly less cheerful lately, Thane prayed every now and then for Carita's awakening...

Basically, the subject of Carita was a sore topic.

Even Jack had gotten along with her. "She's alright" the ruthless Biotic had said when she visited Carita in the tank. "Bit too much of all that fancy shit, but she's alright" Aoife had learned that when it came to Jack, that was probably the nicest comment she'd ever said about anybody.

But then came the day when Aoife heard the voice.

* * *

It wasn't there, but then again, it was. It was like seeing something in the corner of your eye, but only for a moment, then it vanished. Everyone had claimed to have heard it too. It was a whisper, some sort of presence, claimed by Ken. Then came Mordin's theory.

"Might be Carita"

Shepard had looked at the salarian like he'd finally gone off the edge.

"Sorry Mordin, what?"

"Carita's antennae, had been studying them, with her consort of course. Apparently used for communicating long distances, psychologically. May be what we call Telepathy"

"So you're saying Carita may be trying to communicate with us?"

"Indeed. Coma may cause Telepathy to falter, hence the level of sound we hear"

So now, Shepard stood facing Carita's tank, thinking. Over the past few days she'd been trying to communicate with the comatose Spirit, but so far, no luck. The voice was still there though, but it had grown slightly quieter over the course of time.

Gently, she pressed a hand against the tank and sighed, looking up at Carita's peaceful face.

"Damnit Cari, if I could communicate with you I would but I don't know how" she sighed. "We need to know if there's something else wrong apart from your coma, something that may recover your Telepathy. I mean-"

She was stopped short, taken aback at the sight.

One of Carita's antennae had reached from behind her back and now pressed gently against the glass, opposite to Shepard's hand.

_Commander..._

Aoife jumped back, looking round frantically for the person the voice belonged to. But the voice...it wasn't spoken.

**It was in her head**

Then, staring back at the tank, she suddenly realised.

Carita...

She re-approached the tank again, placing her hand on the same spot, staring up at Carita's form. Maybe, just maybe she could communicate through thought.

_Carita?... _She thought, projecting her thoughts, unsure of how to communicate through 'Telepathy' as Mordin called it.

Suddenly a shock ran through her arm, from the tank to-

No wait, from Carita's antennae through the glass to her hand! It was strange, like a jolt of electricity had passed through her like she was a metal rod.

_Commander Shepard... it seems you've discovered how to communicate with my mind at this moment in time...I am relieved._

It was definitely Carita's voice, Shepard noticed. But she sounded so tired, so very quiet as tried again, this felt strange, like they were connected somehow.

_Cari...what is this? How can I hear you and talk to you?_

_As Dr. Solus may have explained...I...I am using Telepathy to communicate with you. But to do that I need to connect physically and grasp your...mind first. I...I'm sorry Shepard. I am still recovering, and this is tiring, I have not used Telepathy for a long time._

_How are you? Mordin's done an examination of you but we're not sure that you'll wake up._

_I see, I feel weak, very weak Commander. I doubt I'll fully recover, but later I may consider going into 'hibernation', as your people call it._

_Hibernation?_

_In times of weakness and loss of stamina, we can shut down almost completely due to our two hearts and rest for a week or so. If I do that I should be alright._

_Why didn't you do it before? You could be up and walking around now._

_Several reasons Commander, the main reason is that I __**literally **__mean that I shut down almost completely, this means that one of my two hearts stops working and the other is strained. On your readings this may look like I have deceased, prompting you to shut this tank off and dispose of my body.  
_

_I see, anything I can do to help?_

_I'm not sure Commander, only don't move my body at all or cause it harm, that's all I was taught about our comatose states._

_Alright, I'm glad you're ok Cari._

_Thank you commander. Telepathy is taking a toll on my stamina. I'd like to rest now, if you don't mind?_

_Yeah it's fine!, I'll come back later?_

_Of course Shepard. Until then._

And then silence ensued, the strange numbness had retreated from her arm and she felt the connection fade away.

Aoife stepped back from the tank, regarding the Spirit worriedly. Carita's form hadn't changed at all. Her eyes were still shut, hair floating casually around her head like a halo. Her antennae had retracted and joined its twin behind her head.

Aoife smiled gently, patting the glass of the tank before turning and walking out of the medical bay, heading for her quarters.

* * *

"_Siha..."_

She felt arms encircle her and a pair of lips kiss her neck gently. Grinning she faced her assassin, snuggling into his embrace.

"How was Carita's condition?" Thane asked, moving them both gently to the sofa, where she sat on his lap, running her fingers gently over the red frills on his neck.

Aoife told him, explaining about Carita's telepathy and the communication, Thane quite surprised.

"Have you told Dr. Solus and Dr. Chakwas this information?" he asked, Aoife nodding, moving her hands to give him a gentle massage on his neck, getting a rumble of delight coming from his throat.

"Yeah, they've tried communicating with her but I think she's resting at the moment. Talking for a mere few minutes wiped her out"

"I see."

A thought struck her.

"Weren't you supposed to be meeting with Kolyat in the wards today?"

Silence as the assassin twirled a piece of her hair gently round with a finger.

"Thane Krios..."

"He said he had work to do. His tone of voice suggested he was in one of his moods, and as such I left him."

"Oh..." she was lost for words. She and Kolyat got on quiet well after she punched him in the face and set his life around. The only problem now was for Kolyat to fully accept his father.

"Want me to talk to him?" she asked him gently, knowing that Kolyat was a sore topic.

"If you wish _Siha"_

Aoife nodded, standing up and making her way over to her terminal.

"I'll do it now, apart from some documents to go over I have nothing else to do" she said, plopping down in the chair and bringing up the console.

Thane grunted softly in response, standing up to kiss the back of his _Siha's _neck before standing straight.

Aoife turned round, smiling gently, Thane returning the smile.

"I shall return to my meditations" he murmured, bringing her head up to kiss her soft lips again and she hummed in response.

"Don't take too long" she smirked, before facing the terminal, hearing Thane's footsteps recede.

Kolyat gulped down his drink, tapping rhythmically on his desk in C-Sec. Out of jobs to do all he could satisfy himself with at this point in time was the endless drabble the other officers transferred over the comlinks.

Therefore he was quite surprised when his omni-tool told him Commander Shepard was trying to contact him.

"Shepard?" he questioned when the call was patched through, blinking both sets of eyelids.

"Kolyat" Aoife greeted warmly, a smile evident in her voice.

"Is there something up?" he asked, taking another sip of his drink.

"It's about your dad."

That struck him and he was sure Shepard could feel the temperature drop through the omni-tool, as she went silent.

* * *

Aoife sat back with exhaustion, concluding possibly the most heated and difficult conversation yet. Kolyat had promised to talk to Thane, after many argues and explanations. She could see why he found it hard to bond with his father, but at the same time, Thane was slightly hesitant to talk to Kolyat, fearing he'd mess up. Shepard had only just convinced him to **try**.

She tapped her fingers on her desk, glancing at the time. Ah, that's why she felt so tired. Stretching she changed and slipped into her bed, feeling the soft comfort of the sheets around her. It wasn't late before she drifted off into sleep, thoughts of Telepathy plaguing her mind.

* * *

Thane wandered into the mess hall, looking for his _Siha_. He hadn't seen her all day and due to the unconsciously protective streak he had, he felt that after finishing his meditations, he might as well find her and see what she was up to.

Seeing Garrus sitting on a chair devouring a dextro-safe Peanut Butter and Jelly sandwich, he silently approached the turian, sitting quietly on a chair opposite him.

Garrus looked up, mouth stuffed with food and waved, Thane politely inclining his head and waiting for Vakarian to finish.

After a few minutes Garrus swallowed and sighed happily.

"Damn, such a craving those sandwiches give me, it's insane" he muttered to himself before looking up at Thane with a curious Turian stare.

"What brings you out of your cave Thane?" he asked jokingly, wiping a few crumbs from his jaw.

"I'm looking for Shepard, have you seen her anywhere?" Thane replied, both sets of eyelids blinking.

The sandwich-addict Turian thought, before taking on a realisation look.

"Ah! That's right. She's with Carita"

"Carita? Has she awoken from her coma?"

"No, Shepard says that she can communicate to her through 'Telepathy'" he air quoted. "That's where you'll probably find her"

Thane stood up and bowed. "My thanks, enjoy your...meal Vakarian"

Garrus nodded and picked up another sandwich from his plate and wandering back to do some calibrations.

The nimble drell assassin approached the medical bay, seeing his _Siha _kneeling on the floor, head pressed against the tank. He quietly approached, standing a few steps away from Aoife as he waited for her to return from whatever she was doing.

What Aoife **was **doing was catching up on everything she wanted to ask Carita, but had either forgotten or the situation wasn't the best time to express that question. After the Spirit had recovered from the last conversation, the two women had been conversing all day.

_What did you mean when I first saw you? Something about "What you are is what I would be" or something like that? _ She projected, finding it easier to converse with the patient Spirit than before, Carita just seemed so much more...open.

_Ah, that._ _I just said that to confuse you. It often worked with most people that came to Zeria. The idea is for them to think about what I just said, ignoring the dart sticking into them, thus, they fall. Then I simply used my biotics to load them all on to their ship and throw it back into space._

_You can throw that far?_

_Occasionally, it depends how angry they made me or how heavy the ship is. If I can't I still load them on board and after they awake they soon hightail it out of Zeria, plaguing stories with scary aliens across the galaxy no doubt._

_Ok I've got a few more questions, but they might be a bit personal..._

'_Fire Away' Commander, I believe one of your human sayings is. I have no objections as to what you ask, some questions may take a while to answer but I will answer them, guaranteed._

_Er...Alright then. What was your family like? I mean you told me a bit about them but is there anything else?_

_My mother's name was Loeta, she was a beautiful person. Always full of passion and joy, she was the sole shaper of who I am now. My father on the other hand, Tyonis. He was a strict, cruel man who thought very low of women, even my mother and I. My mother did not dare challenge him, instead she took me aside and sheltered me from his thoughts and stopped me becoming something like him, a vile monster. Then...there was Leosis._

_I thought you said you were an only child?_

_I am, he was my betrothed, a fiancé as you might call it._

_Wow, what was he like?_

_Passionate, kind, considerate, warm...there are so many words I can use for him, I treasured Leosis deeply. We had been betrothed to one another since mere younglings, surprisingly my father made the decision. The only reason was that Leosis was very...smart. Very keen on military tactics and the outside worlds. As far as I know, everyone was, but we daren't not say. Any conspiracies or tales that might influence the younglings minds were banned from being spoken, my father wanted the younglings to grow up strong, as he put it 'Not thinking things that don't exist' But that's why merchants and traders were so popular in our world. They got to go disguised to other planets, but they were sworn to secrecy, especially to me. The Liopae wasn't allowed to converse with the poor, especially the traders, but I was stubborn. As a youngling I would sneak out of my lessons and wander the streets like others would, and often come across a merchant, surrounded by younglings. The merchants would, law or not, tell us of distant planets and strange races that enthralled us. Now I see they were just tales, but it was a craving we lived on as younglings, filling our curiosity fully._

_Wow, it sounds like you had a pretty good life._

_Yes, Leosis and I were very happy, and apart from my father's wishes to leave our home and destroy other races our planet was at peace. However...it was the night before my joining with Leosis that everything changed._

_The war..._

_Yes. The war._

_Who was it with? What happened?_

_The very race that is threatening your species Commander, the Reapers._

_The __**Reapers? **__My god, no wonder you were wiped out Cari, no offence..._

_None taken Shepard, our people did possess an army, but because we had no idea what might exist out of our skies it wasn't very formidable, we had no idea what we were up against. I was in my room in our home, simply staring out into the night sky as I did every night, when I noticed some strange red light coming towards the ground. I watched it fall, down and down it went and there was me, not alerting the guards whatsoever of this strange occurrence. Then, it hit. The Reapers came soon after, destroying our homes and killing our young. My family, including Leosis were going to be taken to the other side of the planet to hide, but my father and Leosis wanted to stay and fight, and because my father's word was law, they stayed._

_Cari...I'm so sorry._

_It's not your fault Commander. The last I saw of Leosis was when he kissed me for the final time, embraced me and told me he loved me. I could not speak; I was too overcome with emotion. Shaklzar how I wish I had repeated my love for him, as I never saw his face again. My mother and I fled with the royal guards protecting us, but we didn't get far. Our ship was destroyed, and crashed into the oceans that surrounded our home. I was the lone survivor of the crash and could only watch helplessly as the Reapers killed my people. After I had scrambled ashore I found a smaller abandoned ship and fled, narrowly escaping the Reapers assault. I left my planet, unsure of where to go. I simply picked a direction and headed for it, going to the nearest planet I could find._

_And that planet was Zeria?_

_Yes, and I have been there ever since. When I first got there I tried to communicate telepathically to any survivors, but I had no response. Thus, I presumed I was the lone survivor. Ah, Commander I think we have a visitor._

_You can see?_

_No, but as we are connected, I can hook up to your senses and see through your eyes, if you get my meaning. Thank you for the conversation Commander, I will rest now._

_Alright Cari, just call if something's wrong._

Aoife disconnected again, rubbing her head with her hand as she stood up, looking around for this 'visitor', seeing Thane sitting quietly in a chair.

"_Siha" _He smiled as he walked over to her, pulling her into an embrace. She hummed in delight and returned the hug.

"I have been looking for you everywhere" he murmured, playing with the wavy locks of red hair at the back of her head.

"Oh? What for?"

"Nothing in particular, I simply wondered where you were"

"Aw bless you. Oh no!" she suddenly exclaimed, pulling away and looking at Thane with wide eyes.

"_Siha?_"

"It's all my fault..." she murmured, putting her head in her hands and sighing dramatically. Inside, she sniggered. The poor drell was so overcome with her sadness he would fall for anything.

The 'Poor Drell' gently brought her hands away and looked into her eyes concerned.

"_Siha, _what troubles you?" he asked worriedly, his face a mask of worry.

"Just think, you've missed about **six **hours of meditations!" she cried in mock horror.

Thane took a moment to take that sentence in, blinking his eyelids in confusion before it registered and he looked down at the grinning face of Aoife.

Smirking, he attacked her ribs as she convulsed in laughter, trying to get away.

Unseen, the comatose Spirit could hear everything in the room, including the laughter of the happy couple.

Unseen, her memories drifted away to her dead lover.

Unseen...

A small tear escaped her closed lids and trickled down her pale, blank face...


	7. Awakenings and Information

The Normandy cruised through space, destination unknown. Shepard had thought it would be best to keep moving for a while after the Citadel incident and until they could find a planet definitely uninhabited this time, they had spent the past few days wandering, occasionally stopping to see old friends and catch up on memories.

Miranda stared at her terminal screen, eyes wide, unable to comprehend what data she had managed to hack from Cerberus. "No...that's what they need her for!" she exclaimed, copying the data to her omni-tool and rushing to find Shepard. "YEOMAN CHAMBERS!" She bellowed, scaring every member of the crew out of their skin. Kelly raised herself from behind her terminal nervously, having been ducking for cover. "Y-y-yes Miranda?" she stammered, Miranda's harsh glare thundering down on the poor yeoman. "Shepard. Where. Now." She commanded, eyes wide with anger. "With Carita, Samara went along too!" she squealed with fright, before sprinting off to the mess hall. Miranda ran off to the medical bay, shoving and shouting through everyone near her.

Bursting into the room which housed Carita's tank and seeing Shepard and Samara kneeling on the floor, hands linked with one hand from each being pressed to the tank. She panted with breath, before composing herself and striding towards them, hands shaking with shock as she tapped the Commander on the shoulder, waiting for two seconds before impatiently trying again.

After an antagonizing minute, Shepard finally released both her hands and stood up, raising a questioning brow. "YES, Miranda?" she exclaimed before Miranda grabbed her shoulders and looked at her with wide eyes. Samara stood up and with a small bow exited the room silently. Miranda took a deep breath.

"Commander! I'm sorry but I know why Cerberus wants Carita, and neither you or her are going to like it."

* * *

Aoife ran a hand through her wavy hair, struggling to take in what Miranda just said. "It's definitely him?" She asked, voice steady but underneath a sense of worry showed. Miranda nodded sadly, glancing at the floating Spirit. "Shall I tell her?" Miranda asked but Shepard shook her head.

"She heard"

"What? Oh my god...If I'd known..."

"It's no problem Miranda, is that all?"

"Yes...oh god I'm so sorry.."

"Dismissed."

And without watching Operatives Lawson walk ashamed out of the door, she strode over to Carita and placed a hand on the glass, going back into the conversation with the Spirit.

_You heard that Carita?_

_I did._

_Look I'm sorry Cari, if Miranda knew I'm sure she would've broken it gently..._

_It's fine Commander._

_Carita you and I both know that's a lie._

_Very well, it is. But what can we do about it? Going after them would put us in more trouble than we could take on at the moment, they could be holding him in any ship._

_No, Miranda's given me details of what ship he's on. EDI's going to try and track the ship...Cari if you want to abort this then the floor's yours._

_I need to think about this. _

_Alright, I'll see you later._

No response came from the Spirit and to her credit Aoife wasn't surprised.

Miranda had found out that Cerberus wanted for the sole reason.

Breeding.

They had found that Carita wasn't the sole survivor of the war, three other beings survived, captured by Cerberus and being held for ten years. And Miranda had found out which ones.

Two small younglings, one male, one female. Both were not even twenty years old. And the third...

A young male, around Carita's age. He was the only one who would talk willingly, the children were too frightened or too weak to answer any questions Cerberus would strike them with.

Aoife knew that Carita would immediately rise to conclusions, and given the tender topic of her lover only a week earlier she knew exactly what she was thinking. The female of the children was far too young to breed, therefore Cerberus wanted Carita to take the role. And even worse, **if **beyond a million to one it COULD be him, then Cerberus could use that information to manipulate Carita.

"-epard? SHEPARD?"

"W-what?" Aoife snapped out of her thoughts, looking up from the floor at Chakwas.

The doctor sighed.

"Carita's woken up, you should go and see her Commander, she said she needs to talk to you. And by her tone of voice I think now is the best time. She's gone back to her room."

Aoife nodded, walking towards the elevator, wondering what state the emotional Spirit was in, both physical and mental.

* * *

She was quite surprised when she found Carita ramming kick after kick, punch after punch into a large metal pole, her anger radiating off her. Carita's wavy hair had been pulled into a high plait, going down to her shoulder blades as it thrashed round ferociously. She seemed to have borrowed what looked like Kelly's athletic wear, a small tank top exposing her belly button and some stretchy pants. It was quite a contrast to her robe. Whereas when she wore the robe she looked like the calm, collected Carita Aoife knew, but now she plaited her hair, wore this...outfit and thrashed attacks at a metal pole...

Yeah...she's angry.

"Carita?"

**SLAM.**

The metal pole suddenly took a huge dent as Carita placed a well aimed kick at it's middle. Breathing for air she looked up at the commander.

If looks could kill...

"Commander Shepard." Her tone was angry, upset and over-emotional all rolled into one.

"Are you alright to be doing this? At your condition it might be best-"

"My condition is **fine **Commander Shepard" she huffed, breathing a strand of hair out of her eyes.

"You've made your decision?"

"Yes. I'll go along with it, because you **claim **to be the saviour of the galaxy, though how you've done it I don't know how, and if you want my opinion-!"

She was stopped in her full blown rant by Commander Shepard promptly punching her in the face.

"Carita you are a member of my team aboard this ship and although I know this is emotional for you but this is **my **ship and **my rules. **You will obey my rules and speak to me as your commanding officer. Do I make myself clear?"

Only the sound of their breathing echoed the walls as Carita straightened up, looking at Aoife with a blank expression on her face.

"I..." the Spirit took a shaky breath, bottled up emotion clearly showing in her eyes. "I'm sorry Shepard...I just..." she trembled before the floodgates opened and a line of tears trickled down her face. "I've just brought myself up to be all on my own, to be independent. Did my tutors give me lessons on how to hurt people? NO! Did they teach me about other races? NO! And did they EVER think to teach me that if you bottle up all this ANGER, this PAIN, that at some point it's just going t-to...to..." She leant against the wall, sobbing and punching it with built up anger.

Shepard stopped her fist and drew her into a warm hug. Carita sobbed against her shoulder, only taking a millisecond of a breath before crying again.

After a minute or so Carita drew abruptly away, pressing against the window as she composed herself, pressing her forehead against the glass.

"Cari?" Aoife asked tenderly, walking up to her and placing a calm hand on her shoulder.

"Shepard..."

"Yes?"

The Spirit stood straight and gave Aoife the biggest smile she'd ever seen Carita wear.

"Let's get my people back Shepard."

"They'll be expecting us Shepard you know that right?" Joker asked as he steered the Normandy towards the unsuspecting Cerberus ship.

Shepard grinned.

"When do things ever go the way we planned? Think about it, if they see us they'll be like frightened gerbils, and when people are frightened they don't think straight."

Joker blinked.

"Er...that's a...different simile to what I've heard Commander but alright, it's your call"

"We are approaching the Cerberus Ship Commander Shepard." EDI's voice pipped through.

"Alright, I'll get the team ready in the hangar, take us in nice and gentle Joker" Aoife called over her shoulder, heading for a mission that may just save an entire race...


	8. Findings

**Hello! I'm sorry for the late updates so far, but due to my illness and some Real life mishaps I'm struggling to find time to edit, continue and publish the chapters. Please bear with me, I won't put them out week by week, maybe one week I won't publish anything but the next I might publish two.**

**Oh, one small note before I start; after a question from an anonymous user, Carita's antennae aren't like bees antennae for example. If you think of them as like the same thickness and texture as hanar tentacles, only her antennae are a see through white. **

**Let's roll!**

Shepard, Carita and Thane crept silently through a ventilation shaft above the mess hall of the Cerberus ship. EDI had shut down and implanted viruses in the Ship's systems, which enabled the trio to get into the ship without the Cerberus crew being alerted.

Shepard, the head of the line held up her hand, indicating a grill on the floor of the ventilation.

A Cerberus operative whistled innocently in the shower, massaging his scalp deeply and getting rid of all the stress of the day. He felt so good in fact, that he looked up to the ceiling and smiled broadly, meeting the electric blue eyes of a certain Spirit.

Carita silently dropped down, breaking the man's neck, putting a pale hand over his mouth whilst the last breaths of air escaped him. She led the body gently to the floor and moved it into an unknown stall, shutting the door behind her. "Men's shower room clear Shepard, I'm moving up." She whispered, checking the corners with her twin guns.

"Roger, meet at the rendezvous, if your covers blown don't talk to us, we want them to think you've come here on your own in some sort of a desperate attempt to save your race. If you don't turn up after 5 minutes we're coming to find you"

"Confirmed, Carita out."

She heard the tiniest amount of noise echo in the ventilation shaft as Shepard and Thane moved away.

Carita gritted her teeth as she took a deep breath.

This was it.

She hadn't spent weeks in that tank just thinking. Her memory was so vivid she could replay that encounter with the Batarians over and over in her head until she stopped being scared of fighting, stopped being scared of firing a gun. And she wasn't just taking her anger out on that pole. That pole was the thickness of Cerberus armour, she was seeing how many kicks could shatter it and leave the target wide open. And after she found the perfect spot to kick, she could do it in one. Her guns had been specially designed for her using her own and Jacob's knowledge of weapons. Silencers had been fitted to the twin guns as well as specially designed bullets that contained the same chemical that had sedated Shepard and her team when they first met Carita.

Carita forced herself to relax and slip away, using her antennae to listen to the rooms and floors around her.

...

Two people...a man and a woman...twenty yards ahead of her position. Six more in the mess hall, forty yards away. Any other crew wouldn't hear any commotion...

She left the shower rooms silently, checking the corridors and empty rooms before seeing the man and woman with their backs turned to her down the end of the corridor, looking over a data pad. The man straightened and started to turn round, Carita taking the woman down with a shot before the man had a chance to react. He looked up horrified at the Spirit before his body slumped to the ground.

Carita dragged the two out of sight, taking any extra ammo and credits they might have on them. Her self conscience, the part that kept shouting at her to remind her that she was a Liopae and wouldn't kill others was nagging at her, being shut up by the thought that the things they had on them wouldn't be any use to them dead.

She slipped round the corner, checking the air every second for the movements of the next six she was due to take out. She checked her omni-tool. Five minutes left, better make this snappy.

She looked round the corner, seeing them all seated round the table, laughing. Damn, if they were working with their backs turned to each other she could take them out separately. She reloaded her pistols and grabbed a small flash grenade from her pockets of her robe.

She threw it and got ready to move in and take them down before they took in what happened.

The grenade flew through the air and rolled under the table, surprisingly none of the occupants saw it move, they were too engrossed in some magazines on the table.

As the light hit their eyes they recoiled and Carita was suddenly there, jumping on the table and spreading her arms out opposite to each other, firing on the Cerberus crewman opposite before moving her arms again and copying the same move.

Ten seconds that had taken, ten seconds to kill six people. Six innocent people with families.

She brushed the thought away and ran down the next corridor, not bothering to move the bodies, it would take too much time and the other people on the crew would wonder where everyone was. Seeing the sealed door up ahead she paused, checking the omni-tool. She was right on time.

Smirking, she only had to wait a few seconds before the doors opened and she met the faces of Thane and Shepard. She moved in and Thane re-locked the door, turning to face the two women.

"Nice job Cari" Shepard grinned, giving her a thumbs up. Carita nodded her head in thanks to both of them, Thane nodded back. "The cages should be up ahead" he said, holstering his gun. Shepard nodded before looking at Carita. "Ready to meet some familiar faces?" she smirked, reloading her rifle. Carita smiled.

"I can't turn back now. We'd better hurry, I hid all the bodies except for the six in the mess hall. A crewmember is on the way there now, he'll reach the mess hall in a few minutes and they'll head straight to this room."

"Alright, let's move."

And so the three sprinted down the corridor, coming into a vast room with three huge tanks, taking up half of the space.

Carita ran up to the first tank, looking inside.

It was the girl, small and pale as she floated in the tank, her legs were cut and bruised and a small scar ran under her eye. Her antennae and her hair alike were a pale blue, the antennae only reached the top of her head, not even flowing behind, showing how young she was. It made Carita sick, seeing a _youngling _of all things being treated like this.

"Cari? You ok?" Shepard asked, putting a hand on her shoulder.

Carita nodded, looking in the next tank at the youngling male. He was no different from the girl, bruises and cuts splattering across his body. Male Spirits were different from females, instead of antennae, they had a small web of visible birth scars going from the temple to the back of his ear. Like females, they had the same uses and did the same things. The scars were only slightly visible on this youngling, they had yet to really show.

She turned away and saw the shape of the male in the next tank. Her hearts were in her mouth as she made her way over, seeing Thane and Shepard go outside into the corridor to see where the rest of the Cerberus operatives were. She approached the tank, holding her breath.

**It wasn't him.**

She spluttered, pressing her hands across the tank for support. She felt like she'd collapse, her mind was reeling as she bit back tears of sorrow. She tried to gulp down her sadness and she looked back up to see his face...for a second seeing Leosis staring straight back at her before the mirage melted once more. She put a hand up to the glass and tried to connect with the stranger but only felt silence accepting her. Dread filled her. Silence meant that the Spirit was dead.

She disconnected, taking a few steps backwards and staring at the male for a minute. With Rage combined with sadness she took out her guns and fired rapid shots, at the youngling's tanks. The tanks shattered and Carita ran and caught them, hugging them to her body as she felt their quivering forms huddle terrified in the broken tank for half a minute, showing they were at least _alive_. "Cari! We've gotta get these three out of the tanks, Thane's holding off the officers!" Shepard ran in, seeing Carita cradling the younglings and the unmoving male Spirit in the tank. Carita raised her head and nodded, standing up and leading the children over to the Commander. Shepard raised a brow, looking over at the still captured Spirit. "What about...?" "He is dead Commander." Carita answered bluntly, looking down at the children and speaking a quick rhythm of clicks and coos and they understood, looking up at the Commander with almost trust in their eyes.

"Right, let's go, Thane's holding them off. We need to get to an escape pod where we'll be jettisoned out to the planet which this ship's flying over. Our shuttle will be waiting for us to pick us up. Move out" she commanded, Carita nodded, grabbing a child's hand in each of her own as the group sprinted back down the corridor.

Thane shot the latest operative in the chest. Six more blocking their escape, and one of them had called a nearby Cerberus ship for reinforcements. Carita ran up to the unsealed door that the operatives were holding up at and fired multiple shots, getting two down. Shepard soon followed and after a few minutes the operatives were all soon dead.

"Alright, is that everyone?" Shepard asked, reloading her rifle. Carita listened for a second before replying "Yes, everyone's dead." Shepard looked at Thane with a half worried look. "Did they hurt you?" she asked, looking over his jacket for bullet holes. Thane smiled. "Really _Siha, _these people were operatives, they weren't soldiers who knew how to really handle a gun." "Well they could've got lucky" Shepard shrugged before leading the others out. They soon reached the pods, going into one and strapping in. The girl began to whimper, the boy hugging her tightly and glaring at anyone who looked. Carita picked both of them up and sat them on her lap, making soothing noises and clicks, stroking their heads gently. They soon calmed down, Shepard grinned before pressing the eject button.

Carita shut her eyes tightly as they plummeted down to the planet, memories of the same thing happening when she landed on Zeria. Her thoughts drifted back to the dead Spirit in the tank, and her disappointment finding it wasn't **him**. A loud voice in her head slapped herself senseless and told her she should be concentrating more on the fact that a male Spirit was dead. **He **would've died long ago. Carita looked out of a window, seeing the red, ashy ground hurtle towards her before blackness and sorrow overtook her pathetic, mourning form...

* * *

Shepard sighed as she released her armour from her sweltering body, stepping into the shower and feeling the soothing water pelt down on her skin. Carita had demanded she be left alone, but would allow Samara into the room, after all, Samara shared the room also. But if Shepard or anyone got so much as near that room Samara would be standing outside shaking her head strongly before heading back inside.

The younglings had calmed down, due to Carita's soothing in the pod and also Mordin's medicines and were currently undergoing tests to see what Cerberus was doing to them. They could communicate with the rest of the crew, Mordin had found that their antennae psychically tapped into everyone's translators and sent the knowledge the translator contained into their brains, immediately allowing them to understand and talk to every species. This was what Carita did when they first met, but Spirits tended to do it subconsciously, almost like their antennae had a mind of its own.

Well that's what Mordin said anyway.


	9. Into The Lion's Den

**I am SO sorry. Seriously, I am. Ok, no excuses, I did let real life take over and I'm sorry I've not published for almost a year. God, so sorry. If it weren't for a review notification in my email that basically told me to get my ass in gear and at least finish my story before going silent then I wouldn't be publishing this. So thank you so much Reko-Luna for sending that review ., also thanks to everyone else who reviewed, not just this story but my other oneshots as well :)**

**Right, I've made you wait long enough, lets get a move on.**

Carita sat against the window, the cold glass calming her senses. She sighed inwardly, remembering the talk between Shepard and herself earlier;

*FLASHBACK*

"_Cari...you alright?" Shepard asked, walking tentatively over to the Spirit, slumped against the window. "I will recover Commander Shepard" Carita looked up to give a weak smile. "I did think it was odd that he'd not contacted me if he was alive. Although it may slightly scar me, I will not allow it to alter my performance in battle. Anyway" she began, obviously not keen on the subject "How are the younglings?" _

"_Fine" Shepard reassured, slightly pleased that the Spirit had gotten over the finding so quickly. "Mordin's doing some final tests on them but we're at a loss as what to do with them. They can't stay here" _

"_Agreed Commander, perhaps they could stay in a trusted facility?" Carita commented. Aoife nodded. "I know a friend back on Mindoir, my birthplace. I trust them enough to take care of the children and keep it secret" _

"_Very well Commander, battle is no place for the young"_

"_You say that Cari, when you're not even a matured Spirit yet" Shepard grinned_

"_I am mature in mind Shepard, in body does not always count."_

"_Vain too."_

_Carita laughed "Most likely, I doubt many royalties don't turn out this way"_

_*_END FLASHBACK*

"...and this is the observation room"

She was startled out of her thoughts by Shepard's voice, three pairs of footsteps approaching the room.

Shepard and Thane entered, followed by another drell. He was bluish in colour, taller than both the Commander and Thane, and held his stance in a quite self-respecting way.

"Ah Cari!" Shepard waved, Thane nodding respectfully. Shepard turned to the stranger, showing a hand to the curious Spirit.

"Carita, Kolyat. Kolyat, Carita"

Carita stood up, making her way over to the trio and held out her hand, smiling slightly.

"A pleasure to meet you Mr Krios. Your father and Shepard have told me much about you" The drell looked taken aback.

"Woah Dad, you didn't say she was **this **polite" He commented, looking Carita up and down before fixing her with a scrutinising stare. Carita's smile faltered and her hand dropped, she looked at him with a small frown on her face.

"Shepard you didn't say he was **this **rude" she replied in the same tone.

Shepard, seeing the conflict grinned at Thane.

"See? I told you they'd get along like two peas in a pod!"

"Another one of your human sayings _Siha?" _

"Indeed Thane. Now Kolyat" she turned her attention to the frowning drell, who looked up with a raised brow."You might wanna set aside your differences quickly, Carita's helping me and your father with the mission"

Kolyat's face was one of pure horror.

"I'm helping you with a mission, Commander? " Carita asked, already making her way over to her bed and grabbing her guns.

"Yeah, some mercs are after Kolyat, it seems Thane assassinated some of their accomplices. They're also in the Red Sand trade, so we can kill two birds with one stone" Aoife grinned. Thane, seeing Kolyat's annoyed expression added. "Kolyat, perhaps this will become a chance to get yourself better acquainted with Carita"

The younger drell shrugged, looking away as Carita came up to the trio, her old hood shrouding her pale face.

"Shall we go Commander?" Carita suggested, only a small smile visible on her features. Aoife nodded, walking out of the door to the Airlock, Thane, Kolyat and Carita following. Kolyat kept giving glances to the calm Spirit, until she finally turned round and raised a brow. "Is there something on my features which displeases you Kolyat?"

Kolyat frowned, clearly annoyed at her tone, replying "I just wondered how you can see out of that thing. At least Kasumi could see under her hood, yours is different..."

"I suppose it is. I assume you are familiar with that type of glass that lets you see out but stops others from looking in? The material of my hood works the same way. If you wore it, it wouldn't do this, for the simple reason that your eyes are different from mine"

"You could've just said that it's the material and your eyes are different from mine, which is pretty obvious. Are you always so...regal?"

"Are you always so incriminating?"

"Uh..."

"I thought so." With a small turn of the head Carita strode down the hall, speeding past Thane and Aoife as she disappeared round the corner.

Aoife looked back at the younger drell, slowing down to match his pace, Thane following suit.

"Ok Kolyat what's the deal with Cari? She's not that bad once you get to know her."

"She's just so uptight! So regal and making me feel like I'm some dumb idiot" Kolyat grumbled, suddenly finding the floor very interesting.

"That's just her nature Kolyat, how she was raised. And yes, she can say things that sound like she's being a total snob but she doesn't mean it like that. Remember she's not really accustomed to talking with people other than the crew. But I see why you have trouble getting along with her" Shepard sighed slightly. "She's got the temper of a krogan who hasn't had a good fight in a year"

The Commander patted the younger drell on the back comfortingly. "Just wait, things will work out" Kolyat shrugged as they reached the hangar, where Carita was waiting patiently at the airlock.

Shepard leant back against the sofa on Afterlife, the pit of hell in Omega. It turned out that Aria had information on the gang and as usual, she wanted something done in return for the information.

The queen of the hive was in no better mood than she was always in, her bodyguards seemingly on more edge than usual. Perhaps it was due to the bruise forming on Aria's cheek. The asari, obviously not wanting to look weak infront of her business associates, had tried to cover it with hefty amounts of makeup. Shepard saw right through the disguise. Inwardly, she smirked.

"Shepard. You know the deal, kill some mercs, take information, blow up some buildings. Hell, even take some Red Sand for yourself. I don't care. All I want are the profits from another rival gang in my accounts."

"Suit yourself. Looks like things are a bit tough around here." Shepard noted, glancing down at the dancefloor. In contrast to the dancers, she noted more security and bodyguards stationed around on the floor.

Aria's eyes narrowed."Nothing I can't handle. Nothing to do with you, now get lost and take down that gang." She commanded sharply, a stray hand flying to her cheek before realisation kicked in and she clenched her fist, settling it back down on the sofa.

Shepard stood up, letting her smirk overtake her face. If looks could kill, Shepard would be roasting on a spit right then and there. She shrugged innocently, leading her party down the steps and out into the dark streets of hell.

"So where to Commander?" Carita asked as they trooped down through the streets, passing small gangs of teenagers, homeless and thieves. She'd switched her bright white robe for a dark blue, in a small effort to be noticeable. Shepard glanced back to make sure they weren't being followed before replying. "We're going to check a certain part of the slums. I've heard that the gang we're looking for has a small building there. If we're lucky, they could be right there, and we'll be done in about half an hour"

"However if we're not, they could run and we'd lose trail of them, we'd probably be done in a few days" Thane commented. Shepard shot him a dry look, a smirk threatening to overtake her mouth. Pretending to ignore Thane, she turned her attention to Kolyat, who had been wandering quietly at the back of the group. "Kolyat you alright back there?" she asked, Carita and Thane turning round also. The younger drell looked up from the ground, embarrassment crossing his features as he looked to the side. "Yeah, just don't see why I have to come along" he muttered. Shepard gave him a sceptical look. "You said you wanted to see what Thane did and what he had to do for a living" she replied, gesturing to their surroundings. "Well here we are" she threw over her shoulder as they resumed walking. "Isn't it dangerous to bring the person who was attacked to the person who tried to kill him? Kinda like throwing a meal at their feet, saving them the energy isn't it?" Kolyat answered back, crossing his arms like a stubborn child.

"Kolyat, if you don't want to deal with danger and the proposal of death, you really need to change jobs from C-sec" Shepard retorted. Carita hid a small grin.

They turned a corner, children scampering around them before Shepard waved them off, spying a familiar setting.

"Ok everyone stop here" They stopped, in what looked like another run down street. "Cari, you see that building on the left at the end of the street". The Spirit turned her head and peered down the murky alleys, making out a rather depressing shack being held up by what looked like rotting wood and small parts of metal. "Yes...I see it Commander" Carita replied, scrunching up her nose in disgust. "Scout ahead, go in through that hole in the roof and see if there's anything in there, if it looks like there's been activity. If so, Thane and I will scout around, if it's been used they'll probably be back soon." Shepard looked at her omni-tool. "It's getting light, they're probably all out at the bars or something. I'll comm you if we run into trouble, you do the same if you hear them coming back alright?"

Carita gave her commander a pitiful look, glanced as the dirty, disowned building and back at the commander as if to say 'You really want me to go in there?' Shepard raised a questioning eyebrow and The Spirit sighed, turning and jumping onto the surrounding buildings, eventually making her way over to the roof of the safehouse and flipping inside.

Thane grinned at Shepard. "I fail to see why I wasn't chosen for that task Siha". Shepard gave him a wiry smile, before jerking her head at Kolyat, who, arms crossed still was glaring at the building Carita had gone into. "Hey, I'm sure if Kolyat wants to see how you work, you need to actually BE with him. Besides" she added. "Carita needs to accept that not ever mission is sparkling clean. She needs to get her head out of the clouds if she's going to be valuable to the team in the future".

Thane nodded acceptably, before following Shepard and Kolyat as she led them right into the lions den.

**And there we go :), I hope you enjoyed it, I'm giving Carita a bit of a backbone now, can't have Shepard's teammate a soft wimp XD**

**Now you're probably wondering if you'll have to wait ANOTHER year for the next chapter. I promise you you will not. I'm not setting a date because I have a tonne of exams this month. **

**HOWEVER.**

**I will try as hard as I can to publish these chapters. To be honest I didn't think anyone read them. But now I see that people DO read them, that's given me a lot of confidence to try harder and write for you guys.**

**Once again, thank you so much for reading this and also to everyone else who's reviewing. It truly means a lot to me, thank you.**


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